Copyrights

Lodging several lawsuits in the U.S. Districts Court for the Southern District of Texas, film production companies Headhunter, LLC and Venice PI, LLC stake their claim as the current national leaders of “Troll-style” federal copyright litigation.

The Headhunter, LLC filings involve the 2016 drama flick A Family Man, which stars Willem Dafoe as a striving executive in a job placement firm struggling to balance work and family troubles. Although its production began years ago, the film was only released in theaters in late July of 2017.

An affiliate of a notorious copyright enforcement consortium has filed several recent cases in Colorado’s federal court, continuing a national campaign of “troll-style” litigation against ISP subscribers.

The Venice PI, LLC suits are based on the 2017 action/comedy Once Upon A Time in Venice, which features Bruce Willis on a caper which ensues after his beloved pet is stolen. Described in a Variety review as a “direct-to-video-style Nineties throwback,” the reviewer also saw the possibility that the producers would seek revenue from “ancillary and streaming.” Combining a film’s lack of box office success with a likely substantial budget has been observed to be associated with a significant amount of past BitTorrent copyright litigation.

Filing several new BitTorrent suits in the U.S. Districts Court for the Western District of Washington, film production companies Headhunter, LLC, POW Nevada, LLC and Venice PI, LLC appear to be the next most prolific instigators of “troll-style” federal copyright litigation.

The Headhunter, LLC filings involve the 2016 drama flick A Family Man, which stars Willem Dafoe as a striving executive in a job placement firm struggling to balance work and family troubles. Although its production began years ago, the film was only released in theaters in late July of 2017.

With many recent filings in the Eastern, Western and Middle U.S. Districts Courts of North Carolina, film production companies Headhunter, LLC and Venice PI, LLC appear to be the next most prolific instigators of “Troll-style” federal copyright litigation.

The Headhunter, LLC filings involve the 2016 drama flick A Family Man, which stars Willem Dafoe as a striving executive in a job placement firm struggling to balance work and family troubles. Although its production began years ago, the film was only released in theaters in late July of 2017.

With several recent filings in Oregon, film productions companies Headhunter, LLC, POW Nevada LLC and Venice PI, LLC appear to be the next most prolific instigators of “Troll-style” federal copyright litigation.

Several film production companies have filed recent BitTorrent copyright infringement suits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, continuing national campaigns of “troll” copyright litigation by these companies and their affiliates.

One case was lodged by Cook Productions, LLC, an entity holding copyrights in the recently released Eddie Murphy period drama, Mr. Church. The film was awarded one star in a RogerEbert.com review, and panned by other critics as reflected in a 15% Rotten Tomatoes score, while audience reviews seemed to be more favorable.

Continuing a nation-wide campaign of “troll-style” copyright litigation, several BitTorrent lawsuits were filed by UN4 Productions, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

These suits allege BitTorrent-based copyright infringement of the 2016 action flick Boyka: Undisputed, also known as Undisputed IV, which stars Scott Adkins as an MMA fighter grappling with the fallout from an accidental death in the ring. As of this posting, the film has a 58% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with known media critics apparently declining to review it.

Many BitTorrent lawsuits were filed by UN4 Productions, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

These suits allege BitTorrent-based copyright infringement of the 2016 action flick Boyka: Undisputed, also known as Undisputed IV, which stars Scott Adkins as an MMA fighter grappling with the fallout from an accidental death in the ring. As of this posting, the film has a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with known media critics apparently declining to review it.

Many BitTorrent lawsuits were filed by UN4 Productions, Inc. in the Eastern, Western and Middle Districts of the North Carolina U.S. District Courts.

These suits allege BitTorrent-based copyright infringement of the 2016 action flick Boyka: Undisputed, also known as Undisputed IV, which stars Scott Adkins as an MMA fighter grappling with the fallout from an accidental death in the ring. As of this posting, the film has a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with known media critics apparently declining to review it.

WWE Studios Finance Corp., the purported owner of copyrights to the 2016 film Eliminators, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against 14 Doe defendants in the U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut. This is perhaps the first foray by WWE Studios into “troll-style” copyright litigation, although the company has been active since 2002, typically in producing and marketing films featuring professional wrestlers known from WWE’s live promotions.

Eliminators is an action film starring Scott Adkins and WWE wrestler Wade Barrett. The “direct-to-video” release was apparently not reviewed by most mainstream critics.

The Eliminators complaint makes typical allegations of copyright infringement via BitTorrent file-sharing software, with details regarding the several Does’ asserted common participation in a file-sharing “swarm.” The lawsuit seeks statutory damages pursuant to the Copyright Act, attorney’s fees and costs, and an injunction against further infringement.

And, as with hundreds other similar BitTorrent lawsuits filed in recent years, Voltage Pictures, LLC is the likely instigator, with a co-production credit on Eliminators. As with other similar cases filed in the District, the WWE Studios case was filed by Jan I. Berlage of Gohn Hankey Stichel & Berlage LLP in Baltimore, MD. Below is a case listing with link to the complaint.

Troll Defense

About

Benjamin Justus is one of the few attorneys in the nation who has for years represented individuals, families and businesses that have been sued or threatened with suit for alleged internet-based copyright infringement by various owners of intellectual property in films, music, photographs and other works. He has assisted hundreds of parties who have been involved in such claims. His practice is expanding to include other aspects of liability arising from internet activities, including trademark infringement, defamation, and circumvention of protective technologies.